Fun with Friends

Common Threads met out in Midway on Thursday.


Ginny is making progress on the hand-quilting of her pillow shams, and Lynda modeled her latest chapeau (another project for a friend).


Janalee, our host, was crocheting a chemo hat, and Georgette had a small needlepoint project to work on.


DGD1 brought her garter stitch scarf to work on.


Julie's working on this sweater for her DGD1:


She had already finished this BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) for her DGD2.


For something a little different, Angie shows off the Dream Catcher she finished at Common Threads.


Angie is the author of the novel Copper Descent, which I just picked up from Kindle.

Ginny showed us how to make an apron from a pair of old jeans. She cut the front off, leaving the waist band and the seat down to where it starts to curve for the crotch. You use the front closure to fasten in the back.


Here Ginny shows the finished apron, which she presented to me.


I've been collecting fabrics mostly in these colors.


I'm planning on using them in the Pine Burr quilt from McCall's Quilting magazine, May/June 2012.

I think I've learned enough about paper piecing that I'm ready to start on it. However I have a class at Davidene's on Wednesday from 11-1, so I'll be starting that first, although I may try just one block, just to see. The class at Davidene's is based on Tales of First Ladies by Eleanor Burns. They're making a stack of fat quarters in Civil War fabrics available at a great price, so I plan on using those.

We've been walking the dogs on the street, because it's too muddy on the trails and there's very little snow. I think the northeast got all of our snow this year. The local resorts have snow, though. (They can make it.) We try to get out and walk on the days we don't have an exercise class.

DGD1 brought home a new friend to knit with. While DGD worked on this scarf with some new (to her) stitches, I taught the friend how to use two circular needles to knit in the round. She did some stash diving in Grandma's little yarn store and came up with some yarn for a hat. During the times when they didn't need my help, I organized my fabrics for the Pine Burr quilt, so it will be ready to go. I also tidied up my studio a bit and put away a bunch of interchangeable needles I had just lying around.

What's on my needles: Brick Cardigan, second sleeve coming along well. (It looks the same as in last week's blog post, except that there are now two sleeves.)

What's on my Featherweight: Mending, but I'm ready to start a new quilt on Wednesday. I have a class at Davidene's at 11:00 AM, so will have to pack up my baby and include some supplies and equipment.

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf, but still folded up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished In the Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotsen. Now listening to The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen from Audible. Just started Angie's book, Copper Descent, on the Kindle app.

What's my app of the week: Virtuoso Piano from this website (there are several other piano apps), for figuring out what notes I'm supposed to sing in a piece were singing Sunday at church.

What's in my wine glass: Woodbridge Zinfandel 2013. Always nice.

What's my tip of the week: This tip came from someone in the Just Us Quilters group on Facebook. She cuts up her larger leftovers into squares and triangles, and keeps them near her sewing machine. When she's piecing a quilt and needs to start or finish sewing by using a small scrap of cloth, she sews together two squares or triangles instead. When she has enough of them, she uses them in a quilt.


Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Finishing Up the Year

Rocky's Sheep Sweater is finished.

I used the same pattern as the one I made for him previously, only with a different stranded pattern, using this time the sheep motif from "The March of the Fibres." Here's the link to the Ravelry page for Rocky's new sweater.

Common Threads met on Thursday. Margareth had finished her hat, and she had some new books to show off.

Karan had finished this shawlette.

Lynda has been meeting with Ginny to paint together. Ginny has been doing a lot of painting lately, but Lynda hasn't painted for years. She's back on the groove, thanks to collaboration with Ginny. It goes to show how we inspire and learn from each other.

I brought my "Reflections of Butterflies in Lemonade" quilt for show-and-tell. Ellen and Lynda held it up for a photo.

Here's the label, printed on EQ Printables printable fabric sheets. (Thanks, Davidene!):

Janet brought her finished Plus Sign quilt.

Ellen and I went to Salt Lake City on Tuesday. We stopped at Elaine's Quilt Block, and I picked up some fabric I liked.

Then this came in the mail from Connecting Threads:

Park City Singers performed at Swiss Christmas in Midway on Saturday morning, and Janet and I rode together. We stopped in at Seasons of Home, which was just catty corner from the City Hall building, where the performance was held. I picked up some nice fabrics to go with the ones I got from Elaine's. They were having a big sale, too. Here are the three half-yard pieces and three fats I picked up on Saturday (on the left).

Gotta love sales! (Like I need more fabric.)

What's on my needles: The Johan socks and Mr. F's clothes. The new sweater for Rocky is finished and in use. Still hand-quilting my Spring Flowers quilt, two appliqué blocks done and a little more than 1/3 of the entire quilt finished.

What's on my Featherweight: Still silently waiting for the next sewing project.

What's on my loom: The scarf I started some time ago, but I'm making good progress, now that some other projects are finished. I plan on warping for some rag rugs after the holidays.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Jodi Taylor's A Symphony of Echos, the second volume of The Chronicles of St. Mary's. Now listening to Dyeing Wishes by Molly MacRae. Both of these were from Audible. Still reading Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, from Book Bub on the iBook app.

What's my app of the week: The Music app. I made a nice playlist with Christmas music, which I can play through our stereo using my Satechi radio transmitter or through our little JBL portable speaker, which I can wear around the house, attached to a belt loop by the built-in cabiner.

What's in my wine glass: Nathanson Creek Merlot, the big bottle.

What's my tip of the week: A pedicure outing makes a nice activity if you're having ladies (young or old) to visit over the holidays.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Confessions of an Obsessive Project Starter

I'm really, really, trying to finish up some UFOs before starting any new projects. However, with two grandsons coming up on second birthdays, I'm under the gun to make two I-spy quilts. 

This week I started cutting out 4.5" squares for both quilts. So far, I have 31 cut for each. I need 25 more. I have fabric for a few more, but needed to find additional fabrics with pictures of everyday objects for the boys to recognize and name as they learn language. You may remember the I-spy quilt I made for Daphne:

It was backed with some Dr. Seuss fabric and a panel with The Cat in the Hat, Daphne's favorite book at the time. I managed to find an Etsy shop that had packs of 24 5" squares of I-spy fabrics, so I ordered two packs.  

I'm still making an effort to complete UFOs, though. I'm on the third panel of the Delectable Pathways quilt, and this week I finished sewing the stems down and cutting out the leaves. 

Now for the Christmas Waffle sweater for DH. Well, here's what's been happening. I've been making progress on the first sleeve, but with growing discontent. The body is worked from the bottom up. The sleeves are worked from the top down. With many motifs there isn't much difference, but for the waffle stripe (at least from close-up), there is a definite direction. I don't know if you can tell here, but the lace part makes little triangles that point down. On the sleeve, worked from the top down, they point up. Not a big deal unless you look closely, especially with such dark yarn. (I used a flash for this photo, but I don't have that much light when I'm knitting.)

Then there's the issue with the process. I haven't been enjoying working on the sleeve. My lack of enjoyment has transferred into a tighter gauge (not a huge difference, but still). It has been hard to keep track of the decreases, on the dark yarn, and hard to fit them into the pattern. It's also difficult to count sts because of the dark yarn and the YOs. In addition, the instructions for the Waffle Stripe are in one place, the Tunisian Stripe is in two additional places, and how you put it all together is elsewhere, not to mention there's a separate page for the sleeve shaping. Flipping through pages can be annoying. Even though I have the pattern pretty much memorized by now, I still like to keep track of where I am, so I don't have to find a good light late at night to "read" my knitting. All this means I haven't been enjoying it. Now this knitter isn't entirely about the process, but it's an important part of my knitting fun. Last night I finally decided I might need to REBOOT. I haven't frogged the first sleeve yet, but I started a new one from the bottom up, and I'm finding I'm enjoying it much more. It's also going faster. I already have the ribbing and three stripes done. I'm keeping track of the increases with stitch markers. I also wrote out the pattern, row-by-row, so I can keep track of where I am in the pattern without flipping through pages.

I received a Knit Picks order last week. My Christmas/birthday shopping spree included my choice of items from my wish list on Knit Picks. I decided on Wool of the Andes Bulky for rugs.

The colors are (top, from left) Avocado, Navy, Bluebird, Yonder, Cadet, Silver, (bottom, from left) Bare (2), Caribou, Chocolate, Coal (2). However, I have to finish the scarves on my loom before I can warp for more rugs. (One of the nice things about weaving is you have to finish what's on the loom before you can warp for a new project, unless you have more than one loom.)

Soren's Green Pastures cardigan is finished and ready to go into the mail.

Vintage Stitchers met at Diane's on Thursday. Joanie and I braved a blizzard to get there and back. Here are some of Diane's wonderful quilts, displayed on the walls.

Carol was there. She has continued to make Mother Bear Project bears. This one is all done except for the face.

Barbara was having knee-replacement surgery, so we missed her, but Rebecca says she's recuperating well.

While at Vintage Stitchers, I sewed the buttons on the cardigan for Soren and then worked on the Delectable Pathways appliqué quilt panel.

This week will be busy. Sundance starts on Thursday. We pick up our uniforms on Tuesday, DH works Thursday afternoon and evening, and my first shift is Friday. I should be able to take a portable project along to work on when I have a job that isn't inside the theater. I pledge to keep my nose to the grindstone to finish my UFOs. Watch this space!

What's on my needles: "Green Tea" socks for me, second sock past the gusset. Dogwood Blossoms holding, and Christmas Waffle sweater moving along.

What's on my loom: Belated Christmas present scarves, making progress. I have 18" done on the first scarf. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey, then Emily Goes to Exeter by M. Beaton, and now I'm on The Gates of Sleep, also by Mercedes Lackey, all from Audible. Reading Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey from the library on the Kindle app, checked out using the Overdrive app. Also listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast.

What's my app of the week: I have to mention The Recipe Box again, now that I've used it more. http://therecipeboxapp.com/. I've been adding my favorite recipes to it. I love that it doesn't turn itself off while I'm cooking. (Now, if I can get my cooking to stop turning family off....)

What's in my wine glass: Tres Pinos "Three Pines Cuvée" red wine, 2011 vintage. Very nice!

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.